The following poem was written by me on September 14th, 2001 in response the the terrorist attacks on the US 3 days before. I have posted it somewhere every year since. I'm sharing it again this year because we should never forget what happened on that fateful day, and how it changed us. 
~Nancy

They Did Not Die In Vain

All humanity sighed

As souls left the earth

Lives taken swiftly

Unjustly so

They died not in vain

For tears and remorse

Wash clean the blood

On the crumpled edifices

Of steel and concrete

That makes civilization grand

But buildings do not define us

Within we are human

Warm and alive

Full of stories

Martyrs they became, oh yes

But so much more

Every last one

A living testament

To faith

Hope

Pride

Charity

Accomplishment

And the greatest force on earth

Love

We watched in horror

Over and over again

As the events were replayed

And reactions were given

Stunned looks

Terror in the streets

Angry oaths

Silent sobs

Open weeping

Our brethren were stoic

Or they cried and pleaded

They were dead heroes or victims

But they were all alive

Just moments before

Without any foreknowledge

Of their place in history

Etched on our minds

Engraved on our hearts

For eternity

I wept with them

The ones who died

The living left behind

The shattered hopes and dreams

Like the rubble in the streets

Made us all stop and think

That could be me!

I watched stunned

And vowed as did others

We will overcome this

We are one people

We are humane and caring

This cannot be!

Who dares challenge that right?

To live free and open lives

To send fear into our hearts

And sorrow of the most profound

For after all is said and done

Nevermore will we trust

With the heart of innocents

That we are safe and protected

In this womb of our building

In this fortress of our sovereignty

Will the swords of justice

Smite down the aggressors

And bring us peace and redress?

Or just a sense of revenge

I do not know

But I do know this

They died not in vain

Who gave their lives for freedom

And to help their fellow man

For as the tragedy struck

And lives hung in the balance

Or were snuffed out

I saw birds rise from the buildings

Sun on their wings

Angels of nature

Reminding me that there is a better place

Where there is no grief or pain

And no thoughts of war

May they live there forever

Those poor wretched souls

Till we join them again

And amid all the rubble

The twisted beams of steel and concrete

The dust and the fires

Papers fluttered to earth

A poignant reminder

We once lived and worked here

Do not forget us

We live on in your hearts

Forevermore

We did not die in vain

If the world becomes a better place

Because we once showed you

How to care about your brethren

And to value all you have

No matter how small it is

Or how rude and humble

Life is a gift

Crochet

I have been on a tear on making cotton dish cloths.

 Tunisian Crochet with two bands of a second yarn, the remains of both yarns made up the edging and the loop with no yarn to spare.

I combined Tunisian crochet with single crochet, causing strips of Tunisian crochet to face the opposite sides. The edging is stepped length stitch, half, single, half double, double, half triple and triple, and back down again. 

Using single crochet, I fed in a second yarn in strips

Since I had more of the yarn left, I made a second mate to the first. 

Another view of an earlier wash cloth where I created the wave stitch by using half single, single, half double, double, half triple, triple and back down stitches, then reversing it on the next pass.

 Tunisian crochet with a larger hook. Note I used the leftover yarn to make the bands in the cloth on the right.

Week 632 Wood Working

Year 12, Week 6, Day One (week 632)

(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
08-26-12 Sunday
windy, wet with squall lines passing through, all to the thanks of Tropical Storm Isaac. The ground in the area I work is wet, and spray is pushed quite high. Not weather for working outside. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism and the National Hurricane council.

The past two weeks, I made a pair of drum sticks for a drummer who gave me some wood. I gave him the sticks last night. He said they were a bit thicker than normal, and they could have been longer. Otherwise he liked them. I checked them after he was done with the session and there were dents in the wood but no chips like the ones left by the Sunday service drummer who hits harder. I kept one broken drum stick to use as a guide for when I make more.

Today, I could have sat out under the awning and carved, but the strong winds and heavy rains would have made it a little miserable. In the heavy downpours, water backs up beneath the awning for a while before it drains off.

The crosses I made a few weeks ago, are now up on the walls of the church. From the normal viewing distance, they look commercial. Only when you get up close that you see the flaws in them.

I had picked up some cotton last weekend and I've made two Dish cloths. One I made yesterday start to finish. They look good. I had fabric left over from a third dishcloth I made so I fed that into the pair as stripes. It came out pretty good. I wanted to do that with a fourth one but the yarn I am working with is too close in color for the effect I am after.

I took a load of stuff home this week in preparation to moving back into my own place. I have several more loads to do before I am ready. There are things I need at home when I go there, and things I can move out now, so that is the process. I am also sorting my piles of stuff between WOODWORKING, HOME, and stay in the TRUCK stuff.

Next weekend should be a whole lot better weather. I hope to get some work done.

finished drum sticks

 cross on the front of the church

cross on the side wall of the church